From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Yesterday I took the children out for a coffee with a friend. It was very much a half term treat and enjoyed as such. In the afternoon I went to work and got some more bits and pieces done. Later on I did a Mr T shop via Click and collect for today. I was able to use the £10 evoucher they sent when the shopping couldn't be delivered on that snowy day at the end of January. That meant I could get the shopping done for under £60. Just got to keep to the menu plan!

We made a good start today by making homemade pizzas and having oven chips to accompany.

DD 2 kindly supervised her siblings at a fun swimming session. They are old enough to go in themselves as all but the toddler are 8 or over, so DD2 went to supervise the toddler. That gave me enough time to go to work again, and get more done. It was £21 to get a family swimming ticket, which again isn't a regular occurrence, rather a half term treat. I've had to drag my children to work during half term so was glad they could have a bit of fun today. The swimming and cafe treat yesterday means a spend of £40 for the whole of half term.

We picked up the shopping and came home to find a parcel waiting for me. When I was feeling ill a couple of weeks back, I had chance to read through :money: weekly email and discovered an MSE deal through Thompson and M0rgan. I'd signed up for it back then and knew a parcel was coming at some point. What a good deal it was! For I think £15 or so, I have 3 gooseberry bushes, 6 raspberry canes, 12 strawberry plants, 2 blueberry plants, 2 packets of slow release fertiliser and 10 packets of seeds :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T What bliss:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:T:T:T:T:T:T I have potted up the blueberries; fortunately I had ericacious compost in. The gooseberry bushes will have to go into the ground at the allotment tomorrow as will the raspberries. A couple of weeks ago I discovered a glazed pot I'd bought about 15 years ago. It's one that will hold several strawberry or herb plants, so will pot the strawberries up in that. Naturally there was no time to waste with the seeds, so have got a second variety of tomatoes sown and a tray of scabious flowers.:T

I did pop up to the allotment today ( before the parcel came) and started to clean out some of the greenhouse by removing old trays from last year. I have a big plastic tray, that is quite rigid and excellent for using to hold lots of seed trays or 9cm pots and ensures that water can be retained in the tray. I have some cornflowers and calendulas in the greenhouse from last October's sowing. I need to replace a couple of panes of glass but that will be a job for next weekend.

I went through my diary today to work out how many days, since Jan 1st, I'd set aside the penny a day challenge. I had built up a little in a tin, but ended up dipping into it to fund a child's activity. I thought the best thing I could do was to do the challenge electronically, so transferring the daily amount into a separate savings account. I worked out the total from 1st Jan to today and have transferred to said savings account. I've also sat and allocated money for pay day on Thursday and paid another £85 of nursery fees.

Busy_Mee1

Wow that was a very productive day Lou...I hope that means that you have recovered now from your virus.

Lovely that your parcel brought you so much pleasure, you work so hard and really deserve it. Hope you and the DC enjoy the last day of half term x

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Busy Mee1.

The beautiful weather has continued today. I got some lettuce seeds sown today and a second sow of cornflowers. A garden can't have too many cornflowers . All of the annual plants I've taken to the allotment and put in the greenhouse. The greenhouse has a couple of missing panes so isn't as hot as usual, but the annuals can cope with that! Anything that is a bit more tender I have kept at home, including the sweet peas, sown today, as mice love them.

3 of the DDs and the toddler came with me for the woods and fields walk. It is fast becoming a favourite . Afterwards I popped to the allotment for an hour. I got a fair amount of chopping of brambles done and could get to the fruit beds. I still need to get the fruit bushes in, but I'm one step closer by being able to get to the fruit beds! The elderly lurcher accompanied me and after sniffing around and walking about, lay down and kept a supervisory eye on my chopping

I contacted the credit card company today to request a change in date of payment. Most of my direct debits go out the day after I'm paid which I prefer. This one is always a week later, so have requested it to be sooner in the month. The credit card company appears to have been taken over/ bought by a bank, so navigation of the website was a little different.

Paid £25 off a debt last night and today has been a NSD. Not sure if it's 4 or 5 now for this month.

Honeysucklelou2

Yesterday was a NSD, I think that's 6 for this month. I've done a few hours at work this evening and now feel completely knackered!

Pay day is tomorrow. I have drawn up a budget, but will have to amend it slightly as one of the DDs school trips sent a letter to say that all payments had to be in by 12 th March. I had thought it would be ok to the end of March so will need to rejig it slightly. I'm hoping I can make an overpayment on the window loan and send some to my parents for the tumble dryer.

Honeysucklelou2

I have had such a lovely day . DD2 surprised me by sleeping in, giving me quite a fright, as I thought she'd missed the bus. It turned out that her college has an INSET day so we spent the day together. The non-MSE bit was going to a cafe and having a coffee and cake before heading for the coast path. We parked in a little tiny harbour (NT. so no parking charges:)) and then walked out onto the path. It was truly glorious :) The sea was a perfect turquoise colour and calm. The sun was warm and there was a refreshing breeze which, when we passed the flowering gorse, made the air smell like coconut.

I don't often get time with DD2, as she is often working when I'm at home or vice verse,so today was really precious to have that time with her and DS3. We walked for about a mile on the coast path which can be more of a climb in parts, before heading inland to find the road back to the harbour. DS3 did walk some of the way but ended up having piggy backs for some of it.

This evening I was invited to an event. It didn't cost me anything to get in, just the cost of driving there. The evening was lovely and I enjoyed listening to 2 live music performances:). DD3 was able to come with me as it was a plus one event, which gave me chance to spend some time with her:).

The direct debits went out today. I'm not sure if the request for changing the credit card payment was done quickly enough, so might have to wait until April for that to take effect. I'm £30 less in debt on the window loans. They are coming down gradually.

I have been putting a little extra into savings. When I had a pay rise applied in Oct? Nov?, I paid the extra into a savings account that is difficult for me to access, but not impossible. I figured that since I haven't had that pay rise before and we had to manage on what a I had, we can still do that and save the extra!

crazy_cat_lady

Sounds like an amazing day HSL. Really pleased you enjoyed it

Honeysucklelou2

Yesterday was busy...did so much laundry, I lost count of the loads! So very thankful to have the tumble dryer so we are not overwhelmed with damp washing!

Disappointingly, I spent more than I intended to. March is a heavy month for birthdays so I needed to get 2 presents yesterday which came to £30. I went to the allotment to discover that something, most likely a rodent, had been into the greenhouse and disturbed the compost in the seed trays and munched on the seeds. The young plants that were October sown remained untouched. It's so frustrating, I thought that lettuce and cornflower seeds would be fairly safe and kept the sweet peas, which are highly likely to be munched, back at home. Anyway plan B involved buying a new plastic cover for the 4 tier frame I had already, to create a mini greenhouse to be kept at home. It wasn't in my budget, but if I'm to get any plants to grow for myself or to sell at the gate, I need the plan B!

I went on to Mr T's and spent nearly £80 there, although that did include £11 on new school trousers for DD2. I've done a menu plan for the week and gone for meals that can use up ingredients in the freezer, so today's main meal will be pheasant casserole to use the pheasant up. I've planned a kedgeree for a Thursday so that some of the fish can be used up.

I ended up thinking about the best way forward with these window loans. I have made a few small overpayments of about £25, which has brought the balance down, but every month The direct debit goes out for £76 of which £30 comes off the capital and £46 is the interest. I'm wondering about getting a personal loan for that amount, clearing the window loans, but only having to pay 3.9% APR instead of the 24% I'm paying. I did do the MSE loan calculator to see availability.

I need to pay nursery fees today and the last payment for one of the school trips. I've asked the ex if he could organise getting passport photos sorted for DD4 so that I can get her passport applied for. He's not contributing to the cost of the trips so I thought it was something he could do.

Happy Sunday!

Cherryfudge

24% interest is horrendous! If you have a mortgage and the rate on that is better than the 24% (which I think it would have to be), could you extend the mortgage? Or, as you say, get a loan elsewhere - though I'm never confident on the pros and cons of loans so ask around and do your homework.

I'm sorry the seedlings have suffered. I think a blackbird has been at an established tub in my garden: the surface looks as though I've been weeding it! The violets and dicentra in the tubs seem to have held their own so far, though.

crazy_cat_lady

I think you should go for a loan. It's not like you're going to spend it frivolously and it'll save you money longer term with interest etc. That's what I've done. It's really scary but I feel better knowing I'm denting the debt rather than just stacking up interest.

Drawingaline

Omg, get those window payments onto a personal loan if possible. I have a loan that is 3.9% I am charged around £22 a month interest on a loan of over 8k! It isn't more debt it is shifting debt onto a better rate.

You might not get 3.9%, but anything is better than 24% tbh